TV providers and streamersβ real competition isnβt each other, itβs social video. Or at least thatβs what the president of Comcast Advertising, James Rooke, said during an interview on Wednesday at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. The ad exec was speaking about the companyβs Monday launch of βuniversal ads,β a solution that lets marketers buy [β¦]
Meanwhile, Netflix continued to flex its first-mover advantage over cash-hungry rivals, who retrenched and returned to licensing their shows back to Netflix, which will likely fuel its continued dominance.
Netflix continues to put out hits that keep people watching and subscribing. Lately, it's been leaning into popular fare like true crime and live events that have big advertiser β and water-cooler β appeal.
It's continued to capitalize on its password-sharing crackdown and is ramping up ad tech and measurement deals to entice more advertisers to buy on the platform.
Stellar advertising growth amid an executive shake-up
Peter Naylor at Netflix's 2024 upfront presentation.
Dimitrios Kambouris
Netflix has undergone leadership changes across multiple teams this year. In advertising, where the company harbors vast ambitions, Ampersand's Nicolle Pangis replaced Peter Naylor as VP of advertising.
The move came as Netflix reported stellar growth for ad-supported subscribers in 2024 β to the tune of 70 million, up from 40 million in May.
Next up for ads? Netflix is building its own ad technology to further open the spigot, which it said will roll out next year.
A leadership and strategy overhaul in film
Netflix film boss Dan Lin entered with a streamlined strategy.
The New York Times reported in April that Stuber clashed with higher-ups over what kind of movies to make. Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria told staff in a meeting that quality needed to improve as the company shifted strategy.
Rather than big-budget action films and big-name stars, he sought to diversify the company's offering, prioritizing in-house producers and skipping theatrical releases. Lin also ended the massive upfront checks the company had been writing to movie stars.
True crime hits with real-world consequences
Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch in "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story."
The stalker saga "Baby Reindeer" and the scammer series "Inventing Anna" drew defamation suits, which Netflix said it would defend. And Netflix's two projects about the Menendez brothers β a Ryan Murphy-produced drama and an accompanying documentary β were also ensconced in controversy.
The brothers' families criticized the show, though Murphy has said the brothers should be grateful given the attention the project received. In October, Los Angeles's top prosecutor recommended the brothers be resentenced with the option of parole.
A password crackdown continued to fuel growth
Netflix used to burn through money. Now it's minting cash.
iStock; Rebecca Zisser/BI
Subscribers initially balked at Netflix's bid to ban password sharing, but in the end, the streamer prevailed.
While Netflix has emerged as the clear victor of the streaming wars, that wasn't always a foregone conclusion given the loads of debt it previously accrued to fund its production war chest. Today, the streamer is forecasting billions of dollars in profit while competitors struggle to break even.
Correction: December 3, 2024 β The Paul-Tyson fight drew 60 million households, not people, as live viewers, Netflix said. An earlier version of this story misstated that figure.
